Chapter 211

AURORA

“But know this: the grove will not forgive hesitation.”

Kael steps closer, the silver, blue luminosity of his being like an aura. His ghostly form shines a little, as if he were stuck between realms. The weight of so much sorrow and power hums in the air around him, weighing upon my chest.

“You wear the clothes of my failure,” he says in a voice low and full of repentance. “Perhaps I can make amends.”

His presence is overwhelming, commanding, yet filled with sadness. I feel Dane shift beside me; the tension in him is palpable.

“What do you mean, atone?” I ask, the steadiness of my voice showing the whirlwind in my stomach.

Kael’s golden eyes lock onto mine. “Let me explain.”

I wrap my arms around myself to steady myself and to shield from the signs of emotions his words stir.

Kael winces; his form shakes, ever so slightly.

“When I first tried to restore the grove, I acted out of fear and pride. My intent was poisoned, and my sacrifice was partial. The grove punished me for failing and bound my spirit here to witness the suffering I had inflicted.”

He steps closer to him, and his eyes soften; the towering form almost in the middle of the tree. “I have tried for centuries, have watched the pack pay for my arrogance. I failed them. I failed you.”

The pulse, like a glow out of the heartbeat, accelerates its pulsations inside the heart as if the clinching roots of trees in this place get tighter and their actions suddenly wild.

“So, now what?” I say, my tone rising in frustration. “You think showing up now changes anything? That I’ll just trust you to make it right?”

Kael’s face doesn’t waver. “I know I don’t deserve your trust,” he says. “But the grove does. It chose you because you can succeed where I failed.”

“And if I do this?” I press. “What happens to me?”

Kael’s golden eyes cloud for a moment, and his voice carries, “You would meet the same destiny I so far have faced, which is an eternity enslaved to the grove, your life and essence being one with it to keep its balance.”

He takes one step forward, pushing himself between Kael and me.

“And we’re supposed to take your word for that?” he growls. “Centuries to repair the damage, and now you want to play hero?”

Kael’s head cants a little to the side; the words fall out measured to restrain his nature. “Your distrust is due.”

“My presence is as much a test as it is an offer. The grove is a reservoir, answering intent to faith,” he continued. “Aurora needs to come to one of two determinations, for rejection or acceptance.”

The earth around us heaves violently, this clearing becoming less stable by the second. The glow coming from the heart brightens, casting long, fluid shadows that seem to twist and turn like living things.

I turn to Dane, his jaw clenched in anger and concern, before looking to Kael, his ghostly form radiating sorrow and hope in equal measure. The weight of the grove’s fate, and my own, threatens to buckle my shoulders.

“I can’t just… leave this,” I say, my voice breaking.

“If I walk away, the grove dies. The pack suffers. All of this…” I gesture at the chaos around us, “it means nothing.”

Dane reaches for my hand, his grip firm. “You’re not walking away. But you don’t have to do this alone. There has to be another way.”

Kael’s eyes soften. “If there were another way, child, I would have found it long ago.”

The roots moved tighter, their dark branches inched further in toward the glowing heart. The building energy inside the grove makes the air thick.

Kael extends his hand toward me, golden eyes pleading with me. “Let me finish this. Spare yourself the burden I’ve carried for so long.”

I hesitate, my hand wavering in the air between his outstretched palm and the pulsating heart of the grove. The pendant at my chest dances weakly, its light dimming as if it too were indecisive.

The whispers return now, louder, insistent, and the voices blend into a cacophony that drowns my thoughts.

Just as my hand reaches the heart, the ground beneath my feet gives way to a gaping crack. The movement of shadows at its bottom seems to claw upwards, hungry and alive.

Dane yanks me back, his clutch on my arm tightens while he stumbles backward, pulling me from the edge. A surge of dark energy pulsed through the shadows in it, sending a shiver down my spine.

The voice is ancient, deep, and guttural, from the abyss.

“Choose wisely, child,” it growls; each word rumbles through the air. “It is not in the balance, just that of the grove’s fate.”

The voice weighs differently against my chest onto what feels like pain, crushing it and finding breathing hard. Shadows turned and twist, taking forms that could almost be wolves with eyes glowing malevolently.

Kael steps forward, his ghostly form aglow as he faces the chasm.

“The corruption,” he says. His voice is level. “It knows what’s at stake. It will do everything to try and stop you.”

The shadows lash out, their branches reaching for us. Dane instinctively draws his blade, stance protective.

I nod, my legs trembling as I step closer to the heart. The pendant at my chest flares weakly, its light pushing back the shadows just enough for me to reach the glowing core.

The whispers grow louder, their voices mingling with the guttural rumble of the corruption.

Kael turns to me, his expression desperate. “Aurora,” he repeats, almost immediately. “This is your moment. Your choice. But know this, whatever you decide will shape the future of the pack and beyond.”

My hand moving over the heart, its warmth trickles inside me. The voice finally reaching me belongs to Dane, clear, resolute, even through the tumult.

“I’m with you, Aurora,” he says. “Whatever happens.”